Louis, 19, from Bradford, has been blind since he was 18 months old. A few weeks ago, Louis launched a fundraising campaign on Crowd Funder in an attempt to raise £15,000 to make it possible for a charity, Living Paintings, to make a set of Touch to See books which will bring him and other blind and partially sighted people closer to the incredible world of Doctor Who.

Having blasted through his first fundraising target Louis is now looking to raise an incredible total £25,000 to support the charity that has helped him since he was two years old. 

Louis says of his motivation to carry on with the campaign: “Living Paintings has had such a hugely positive impact on my life, from the first time I received a book and found out what Thomas the Tank Engine looks like (until then I had no idea what a train with a face could possibly mean), to helping me learn to read and express myself. I wouldn’t be who I am today without this wonderful charity and I hope people continue to support me on this journey so I can help other children facing the struggles I overcame with their help.”

Louis and Living Paintings have been overwhelmed by the support shown by the Doctor Who community and this week he met one of his favourite ever Doctors on Zoom, the wonderful Tom Baker.

Louis’ campaign has been supported by many others from the cult show, he has received messages of support from:

Sir Derek Jacobi: “Having played The Master in the TV series, Doctor Who, I just love the idea of blind and partially sighted children and people being able to enjoy the spectacle of the show as sighted people do. I wish you the very best of luck.”

Sylvester McCoy: “The Whoniverse is all embracing and this enables our blind friends to immerse themselves more fully in it’s pleasures too. Great work Louis and Living Paintings.”

David Bradley: “Good luck, and as The Doctor would say “go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine”. You’re a hero Louis, and I wish you all the best.” 

Chis Chibnall (Doctor Who showrunner): “Louis, this is a wonderful project. I think The Doctor would be cheering you on, all the way. All respect, admiration and support to you.”

Now, Tom Baker has added his support to the growing list:

Liz Davies, Publishing Manager at Living Paintings said of the project:“We can’t wait to begin the process of creating the world’s only tactile and audio book series about Doctor Who for blind people. We are extremely excited. We will begin, as Louis has requested, by making tactile images of the TARDIS and a Dalek”.

Louis added: “If I could sum up what I think is the most important thing about my campaign I would ask a sighted person to just imagine – close your eyes and now imagine you can’t open them again. This is how it is and now you want to read a book or watch Doctor Who. How are you going to do that? How important is reading a book to you?  As a sighted person how would you feel if that was taken away from you and you couldn’t read anymore? 

Then you discover Living Paintings and the books are full of characters you’ve heard about and imagined all the time, they’ve been on TV, you’ve listened to the audio books, you may have had the books read to you and you never quite understood what they looked like and now, because of Living Paintings you do.”

Louis is raising the money via a Crowdfunder campaign.

Living Paintings have a webpage dedicated to Louis’ appeal. Check it out HERE.

Check out Living Paintings on Twiiter, Instagram and Facebook for more photos and videos of Living Paintings blind library members reading Touch to See books.